Distributed Version Control Systems

Let’s get this blog started by talking about what I currently use. DVCS (Distributed Version Control Systems) are Source Control that are distributed. Meaning that you can work offline, committing changes to the code without the need to connect to a centralized server.

I think DVCS are perfect for open source projects. A lot of open source projects are distributed, programmers work on a project from different parts of the world, they are not working from the same building. I know some do but a lot don’t. Hence, the ability to work without the need of always being connected to the centralized server is great.

I just got a laptop and when I’m home it’s not a problem, but if I’m working on the train or somewhere where I don’t have access to the internet, it becomes a problem if I want to commit my work. With DVCS, you have the full repository locally, so you can work with it as you like.

Another great advantage is that you can commit more often, even if your code does not compile at the moment, it’s your repository.

I personally work with Mercurial, it’s a great version control. Works within Windows and Linux without any problems. There is also Bazaar and Git which are popular. One of the stronger points with Mercurial is that it works well under Windows. I’ve been using Mercurial for a while now and I’m quite happy with it. I’ve just read that Python is switching to Mercurial. This is quite big news, we are now seeing major projects switching to distributed version control.